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Community Corner

Bake and Decorate Festive Holiday Cookies

Bring the holidays into your home with the scents and flavors of the season.

I love baking during the holidays. It warms the kitchen and fills it with the wonderful scents of sugar and spice. As soon as one of those sugar plum fairies comes dancing through my kitchen, I’ll know I’ve gone too far. In the meantime, I’m going to bake and decorate some of my favorite cookies to eat, give to friends, eat, serve at parties and eat. 

The first recipe is one of my very favorites. I got this from a friend when I was in college; then lost it due to my ever popular habit of writing recipes on the backs of grocery receipts, finally contacted her for the recipe again and have been making it ever since. My friend Dinnie Weaks calls these cookies Ginger Stars because she always cuts them into star shapes. I call them Ginger Stars because she did, but I cut them into lots of different Christmasy shapes. I’m broadminded when it comes to cookie-cutting shapes. 

The second recipe is for Sugar Cookies, which are easy to make and always a hit. Both of these cookie recipes can be iced with the same icing; or not iced at all. But decorating them with icing, sprinkles and other edible do-dads is most of the fun if you ask me, which you didn’t but I get to tell you anyway. 

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You can find many more cookie recipes in my humorous cookbooks Have You Considered Cooking? and The Grits Shall Rise Again! at www.carolgfrey.com. Happy baking!

GINGER STARS
ingredients: 

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  • 2 cups flour sifted                            
  • ½ cup granulated sugar                 
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda                 
  • 1 teaspoon salt 
  • 1 tsp ginger 
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ⅔ cup molasses
  • 6 tablespoons shortening

prep:                            
Sift together sifted flour, sugar, soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. 

Heat molasses to boiling; remove from heat. 

Add shortening to molasses; blend thoroughly. 

Add sifted dry ingredients to molasses mixture; mix well. 

Chill dough until it is easy to handle; at least 1-2 hours.

Roll chilled dough thin on lightly floured board. 

Cut into shapes.

Bake on greased baking sheet or parchment paper in oven 350 degrees for 8 minutes. 

Cool completely.

Makes at least 2 dozen cookies depending on size.

Decorate as desired. Icing recipe below.

Sugar Cookies
ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2¾ cups flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp soda

prep:
Cream (beat) butter and sugar together until fluffy.

Add egg and blend well.

Add vanilla.

Sift flour, salt and soda together and into butter mixture.

Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

In small portions roll out and cut into shapes.

You can sprinkle these with colored sugar now or decorate with icing after they cool.

Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Allow to cool. 

Decorate with icing, sugar and/or sprinkles.

Powdered Sugar Icing for both cookie recipes
ingredients:

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • half and half or milk
  • salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla--you may substitute lemon juice for the vanilla if you want lemon flavored cookies.

prep:
Sift powdered sugar and dash of salt together into small bowl.

Stir small amount of half and half into sugar until it’s spreading consistency.

Stir in vanilla. 

Add more sugar or half and half to make it right consistency.

Divide into portions and add food coloring as desired.

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